Apple Negotiating with Comcast About Streaming TV Service

Apple's fight to bring on-demand cable programming to Apple TV via Time Warner might have fallen apart in the wake of the media giant's upcoming merger with Comcast, but now the Wall Street Journalreports that Apple's in similar talks with Comcast itself. Much as with the previous plan, the new deal would see the Cupertino company working hand-in-hand with Comcast to stream a wide variety of the service's channels for a monthly subscription.

Apple reportedly wants preferential treatment under the proposed agreement, to the point that its Comcast content would continue streaming seamlessly even when other users are subject to the occasional bandwidth and traffic strains Comcast is known for. (So much for Net Neutrality.) The problem is that such a project would require a massive overhaul of Comcast's infrastructure, which means that we may not see the fruits of these discussions for years.

That's just as well, as the Journal reports that the two parties are nowhere close to finalizing anything. Apple will also need to obtain the rights to stream the content in question, which may lead to a delay that's similar to what we saw in the months leading up to the release of iTunes Radio.

Television has proved an enticing market for Apple for years. Walter Isaacson's autobiography of Jobs reported that the Apple co-founder claimed he had "cracked the code" for TV shortly before his death, and the recent flood of attention given to Apple TV suggests Apple might be trying to put those ideas in motion. If anything, it's clear that Apple TV is no longer the simple "hobby" Apple once claimed it to be.